Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So i'm designing my first ever Greenhouse which will house my first ever aquaphonics 'lab'. I'm going to use a 12x12 area out of my current garden for the project. I'll try to get a picture of the area tomorrow.

I am planning for some water storage underground for rain water collection from the barn and green house. I'll use that for solar mass experiements, sump and / or garden water. I've sourced some IBC's for $75 and i'll bury between 4 and 8 of them. I'm going to plan for some access to them, but i figure once they're down there they're not going anywhere.

I'm also planning to custom build my FT and GB's. If things work out nicely i'll add more in the garden area this summer made out of IBC's. In pic 2 you can see the tank off in the background i'm working on. The biggest reason for this is so i can add a nice big window for the 2yr old to see, and hopefully get him interested.

I haven't been following any guidelines for anything, its purely ideas at this point. However i'd like to have some tomatoes in January! I should have the IBC's by next weekend so i'll get them buried and start on the foundation.

I want to include a rocket mass heater and thermal lines. I haven't quite figured out the layout of that yet.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Anyone with some ideas on affordable covering for the green house would be appreciated. I do plan to insulate the north wall and likely the east.

G'day enuro
I hope you keep us up to date with pics of your build as you go i'll watch with intrest

Damn, thats an interesting project you've got there Enuro... The only suggestion I have at the moment is to make sure you sure up the sides of the buried IBCs with either metal or wooden boards, there can be quite a lot of pressure crushing inwards on them and you don't want it to collapse. A few people found this out the hard way..

I'm one of those people >_< the IBC cage isn't enough support well it might be for dirt etc but my issue ended up being water - it rains and puddles against the wall and as the sump side water lows the tote buckles

That's very interesting. I thought the cages would be enough to protect them. Is it the tops or both that need reinforcement? There is a local guy selling 2x4's laminated to 4x6 that would make for some pretty hefty reinforcement.

Alright I've ordered all the parts for a 20 point temperature logging system. I've also got 20w worth of LED's coming to build a test LED grow light array.

Just got to figure out how to reinforce these IBC's and i should be set to bury them next weekend.

Here's my current design. After doing some cost evaluations, building the grow beds differently will cost 1/2 as much, plus i'm using more of the area. This leaves 32" between the FT and the GB. Should be enough to squeeze in.

Hi enuro, sounds like an interesting project and I love the models, well done.

One question, how will you provide easy access to your fish? I say easy access as this is important, especially when you are trying to clean or catch them.

Good luck.

Ahh yes. I was trying to 'edit' my first post rather than bury my progress in the thread but i'm not allowed. So i got side tracked and forgot to update the pictures.

So i've changed the dimensions of the grow beds to utilize materials. My beds are going to run $76 for two. The third will be made with the excess from the FT. This also gives me a bit more GB area. I may have lucked out on the dirt work. A neighbor may have a piece of equipment in the area that can do it for me.

Well turns out you need a 3/4 ton truck to rent a back hoe. Looks like this weekend his shot =\

That sucks a bit.... Don't you have small ones you can hire that you tow on a trailer?

Yup, they are all saying i need a 3/4 ton truck to pull them. Insurance crap.

I may have lucked out, a local guy has one from his work. He's going to try and swing by next weekend.